Oil major Shell paid USD 12.6 billion in corporate income tax and government royalties after recording a profit before tax of USD 30 billion in the year 2021.
The announcement was made in the fourth voluntary Tax Contribution Report published recently. The report details the corporate income tax we paid in 2021 in 99 countries and locations, and the company’s total tax contribution for 21 countries.
According to the report, the company paid USD 5.7 billion of corporate income tax and accrued USD 279 million of withholding tax, resulting into a total of USD 6 billion in income taxes and withholding taxes as reported in our country-by-country report.
Sinead Gorman, Chief Financial Officer, noted that the tax landscape is changing and, in 2021, the OECD proposed a framework to respond to the tax challenges of today’s digital economy where revenues can be earned outside of where businesses have their tax residences. “This framework seeks to align taxes more closely with where revenues are actually earned and to introduce a global minimum level of corporate income tax at 15 percent for all profits made by multinationals, regardless of where they are located,” she said.
Gorman added: “We support this framework as it is in line with our advocacy for a transparent, coordinated approach to improving the global tax system and ensuring that all governments receive a fair share of tax revenues. If the framework is implemented, we would expect to pay higher taxes in some countries where we operate because their corporate income tax rate is currently lower than 15 percent.”
“We regularly review our entities in low-tax jurisdictions to ensure our presence aligns with our Responsible Tax Principles and that we are there for commercial reasons. Since 2019, we have closed 18 entities in low-tax jurisdictions, and we are liquidating another 33 entities. This review will continue,” she concluded.